It is often necessary to sand or refinish large areas of flooring, such as basketball gyms, ballrooms or the like. In order to make this job easier and less time consuming, the use of riding trailers has been employed. Thus, the sander, e.g., a drum sander, or other implement is hitched or otherwise coupled to a trailer. A human being, sitting atop this trailer, controls both the trailer and the implement and, overall, gets the job done faster than if he/she had to walk behind the implement.
One such riding trailer or attachment is disclosed in Neitzer, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,161,994. The Neitzer, Jr. riding attachment includes two propelling and supporting wheels mounted on an axle driven by an electrical motor through a drive assembly including belts, pulleys, a chain and sprocket. In addition, this attachment has a separate steering lever which is coupled to a caster on the sander. Thus, the operator of the attachment indirectly steers the sander by manipulating the steering lever on the attachment to steer the caster. This riding attachment has several drawbacks. For example, the relatively complex drive assembly between the electric motor and the axle may be prone to frequent breakdowns and may require substantial maintenance. In addition, the feature in which the sander is indirectly steered using a steering lever on the attachment reduces the amount of control of and “feel” for the sander the operator has.
Another riding trailer is disclosed in Mattson, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,822, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this specific reference. The Mattson patent discloses a power riding trailer for an implement which utilizes a non-gasoline powered motor and a hydraulic transmission for propelling the trailer forward.
Although this prior art power riding trailer greatly facilitates floor treatment operations, there is a need for a relatively smaller, more conveniently sized power riding trailer that is more easily maneuverable and can be used in both large and small scale operations. A riding trailer of simpler construction which is capable of use in smaller residential rooms as well as larger commercial rooms would clearly be advantageous.